Then I will take away My hand and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.”

‘I will scatter them like an east wind
Before the enemy;
I will show them My back and not My face
In the day of their disaster [says the Lord].’”

Who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’
And to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’
For they have turned their backs to Me,
And not their faces;
But in the time of their trouble they will say,
‘Arise [O Lord] and save us.’

They have turned their back to Me and not their face; though I taught them repeatedly, yet they would not listen and receive instruction.

So He brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the Lord, between the porch (vestibule, portico) and the [bronze] altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east; and they were bowing down toward the east and worshiping the sun.

O Lord, what can I say now that [the army of] Israel has turned back [in retreat and fled] before their enemies?

“You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me [in retreat],
And I destroyed those who hated me.

You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me [in defeat],
And I silenced and destroyed those who hated me.

For You will make them turn their backs [in defeat];
You will aim Your bowstring [of divine justice] at their faces.

I will send My terror ahead of you, and I will throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you [in flight].

Therefore, they turned their backs before the men of Israel [and fled] toward the direction of the wilderness, but the battle followed and overtook them. As the [fighting men of the] sons of Benjamin ran among them, the Israelites of the cities came out and destroyed them.

“How it is broken down! How they have wailed! How Moab has turned his back in shame! So Moab will become a laughingstock and a [horrifying] terror to all who are around him.”